The puck drops on the Eastern Conference Finals tonight as Hershey hosts Toronto in Game 1 at Giant Center… The teams met twice in the regular season, with the road team winning each time… The Marlies are in the conference finals for the third time in five years and the fourth time in team history (2008, 2012, 2014, 2016), while the Bears stand among the AHL’s final four for the first time since reaching the Calder Cup Finals four times in five years between 2006 and 2010… Both teams are coming off hard-fought second-round series victories that culminated in thrilling Game 7 wins… Hershey eliminated Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with a 3-2 overtime win on Sunday evening, and Toronto ousted Albany with a 4-3 decision in Game 7 on Monday night… Marlies defenseman Connor Carrick (6-8-14), tied for the AHL scoring lead this postseason, played 47 games with Hershey this season before being acquired by Toronto on Feb. 29 as part of the Brooks Laich–Daniel Winnik trade… Mark Arcobello (1-7-8) tallied 1-5-6 in the second round vs. Albany… Richard Clune‘s series-winning goal with 2:30 remaining in Game 7 on Monday was the first playoff goal of his nine-year pro career… The Marlies’ Antoine Bibeau (16 goals against on 186 shots) and the Bears’ Justin Peters (16 goals against on 189 shots) had nearly identical numbers in their respective second-round series… Carter Camper (4-5-9) led all Bears scorers with 4-3-7 in the second round vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and carries a six-game scoring streak into tonight’s contest… Jakub Vrana (4-5-9) is tied with Camper for Hershey’s team scoring lead this postseason… Travis Boyd scored the Game 7 overtime goal against the Penguins, his only goal of the series… Boyd joined Eric Fehr (2006 vs. Portland) as the only players in the Bears’ 78-year history to score in OT of a Game 7… Chris Bourque (3-4-7), now tied for eighth all-time with 112 Calder Cup Playoff games played, has reached the conference finals for the sixth time in his nine-year AHL career… Toronto ranks first in the league in scoring (3.80 goals per game) and second in goals allowed (2.30) this postseason… Hershey (both rounds) and Toronto (second round) are the only AHL teams to lose Game 1 and come back to win a series this postseason… Tonight is the 600th Calder Cup Playoff game in Hershey’s franchise history (323-276, .539).

Alumni Watch In the Stanley Cup Playoffs last night, Martin Jones made 22 saves for his second consecutive shutout as San Jose defeated St. Louis, 3-0, to take a 2-1 series lead in the Western Conference final… Jones, an AHL All-Star in 2011, played 158 games in the AHL over his first four professional seasons, going 84-57-10 with a 2.42 GAA, a .921 save percentage and 12 shutouts.

In quarterfinal action at the 2016 IIHF World Championships in Russia yesterday, Keith Kinkaid made 31 saves to lift the United States to a 2-1 shootout win over the Czech Republic… Mark Stone and Mark Scheifele each tallied a goal and two assists, 2015 AHL All-Star Matt Dumba added a goal and an assist and Cam Talbot made 24 saves as Canada defeated Sweden, 6-0… Mikael Granlund scored twice for Finland in a 5-1 win over Denmark… Evgenii Dadonov recorded a goal and an assist in Russia’s 4-1 victory over Germany.

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